Modular Talents

AlexanderHowl · 06-07-2018, 08:29 PM

So, I was curious about something. Let us say that I have a female superhero character who possesses Cosmic 4 [60] and the following ability:

Universal Gift (-80%): Modular Ability (Cosmic Power; Backlash, Agony, Resisted by HT, -50%; Cosmic, +50%; Limited, Affliction with Based on Will and Malediction 1, -50%; Physical, +50%; Preparation Required, 1 hour, -50%; Takes Recharge, 1 hour, -30%) 100 [200]

So, the character is capable of creating any combination of Afflictions with Based on Will and Melee as long as they have a combined value of 100 CP that target anyone living (including herself). What is to keep her from creating a wide variety of Afflictions with the modifiers of Advantage, Based on Will, Extended Duration (Permanent, 1 month), and Malediction 1 and giving herself and her friends a wide variety of abilities for a month?

For example, let us say that she decides to buff up her allies as much as possible by giving them advantages that are passive in effect. After an hour of meditation, she creates the following ability with her Modular Ability: Affliction 1 (Advantage, Damage Reduction (2), +500%; Advantage, Unbreakable Bones, +100%; Based on Will, +20%; Extended Duration, Permanent, 1 month, +150%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Selectivity, +10%) [100]. After an hour of buffing herself and her friends up, she meditates for an hour and makes a similar ability that gives the advantages of Combat Reflexes, Damage Resistance, Intuition, and Peripheral Vision. After another hour of buffing herself and her friends up, she meditates for an hour and makes a similar ability that gives the advantages of Allure 4, Craftiness 4, and Stalker 4.

As you can see, she can give herself and her friends a lot of abilities, and there does not seem to be any rule against it. At what point should the GM step in and say enough? At what point would you make the player remake the character?

DocRailgun · 06-07-2018, 08:55 PM

Well, since GM should ask players to make their characters with the GM, it should be quite easy to veto this immediately.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

So, I was curious about something. Let us say that I have a female superhero character who possesses Cosmic 4 [60] and the following ability:

Universal Gift (-80%): Modular Ability (Cosmic Power; Backlash, Agony, Resisted by HT, -50%; Cosmic, +50%; Limited, Affliction with Based on Will and Malediction 1, -50%; Physical, +50%; Preparation Required, 1 hour, -50%; Takes Recharge, 1 hour, -30%) 100 [200]

So, the character is capable of creating any combination of Afflictions with Based on Will and Melee as long as they have a combined value of 100 CP that target anyone living (including herself). What is to keep her from creating a wide variety of Afflictions with the modifiers of Advantage, Based on Will, Extended Duration (Permanent, 1 month), and Malediction 1 and giving herself and her friends a wide variety of abilities for a month?

For example, let us say that she decides to buff up her allies as much as possible by giving them advantages that are passive in effect. After an hour of meditation, she creates the following ability with her Modular Ability: Affliction 1 (Advantage, Damage Reduction (2), +500%; Advantage, Unbreakable Bones, +100%; Based on Will, +20%; Extended Duration, Permanent, 1 month, +150%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Selectivity, +10%) [100]. After an hour of buffing herself and her friends up, she meditates for an hour and makes a similar ability that gives the advantages of Combat Reflexes, Damage Resistance, Intuition, and Peripheral Vision. After another hour of buffing herself and her friends up, she meditates for an hour and makes a similar ability that gives the advantages of Allure 4, Craftiness 4, and Stalker 4.

As you can see, she can give herself and her friends a lot of abilities, and there does not seem to be any rule against it. At what point should the GM step in and say enough? At what point would you make the player remake the character?

AlexanderHowl · 06-07-2018, 10:09 PM

But the Modular Ability in the example is just a variation of an example in Powers. In many ways, the problem isn't Modular Ability, it is Modular Ability being able to create any attack with the Extended Duration (Permanent) enhancement. I think that a reasonable solution would be that the duration of any ability created by Modular Ability should be limited to Extended Duration, ×1000, +120%. That way, characters would only be able to buff people for days rather than weeks, which would greatly reduce the abusiveness of Modular Ability (especially if it takes one hour of preparation and one hour of recharge to use the Modular Ability like in the above example).

06-07-2018, 08:29 PM	#1
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Modular Talents So, I was curious about something. Let us say that I have a female superhero character who possesses Cosmic 4 [60] and the following ability: Universal Gift (-80%): Modular Ability (Cosmic Power; Backlash, Agony, Resisted by HT, -50%; Cosmic, +50%; Limited, Affliction with Based on Will and Malediction 1, -50%; Physical, +50%; Preparation Required, 1 hour, -50%; Takes Recharge, 1 hour, -30%) 100 [200] So, the character is capable of creating any combination of Afflictions with Based on Will and Melee as long as they have a combined value of 100 CP that target anyone living (including herself). What is to keep her from creating a wide variety of Afflictions with the modifiers of Advantage, Based on Will, Extended Duration (Permanent, 1 month), and Malediction 1 and giving herself and her friends a wide variety of abilities for a month? For example, let us say that she decides to buff up her allies as much as possible by giving them advantages that are passive in effect. After an hour of meditation, she creates the following ability with her Modular Ability: Affliction 1 (Advantage, Damage Reduction (2), +500%; Advantage, Unbreakable Bones, +100%; Based on Will, +20%; Extended Duration, Permanent, 1 month, +150%; Malediction 1, +100%; No Signature, +20%; Selectivity, +10%) [100]. After an hour of buffing herself and her friends up, she meditates for an hour and makes a similar ability that gives the advantages of Combat Reflexes, Damage Resistance, Intuition, and Peripheral Vision. After another hour of buffing herself and her friends up, she meditates for an hour and makes a similar ability that gives the advantages of Allure 4, Craftiness 4, and Stalker 4. As you can see, she can give herself and her friends a lot of abilities, and there does not seem to be any rule against it. At what point should the GM step in and say enough? At what point would you make the player remake the character?

06-07-2018, 10:09 PM	#3
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: Modular Talents But the Modular Ability in the example is just a variation of an example in Powers. In many ways, the problem isn't Modular Ability, it is Modular Ability being able to create any attack with the Extended Duration (Permanent) enhancement. I think that a reasonable solution would be that the duration of any ability created by Modular Ability should be limited to Extended Duration, ×1000, +120%. That way, characters would only be able to buff people for days rather than weeks, which would greatly reduce the abusiveness of Modular Ability (especially if it takes one hour of preparation and one hour of recharge to use the Modular Ability like in the above example).